A few words on Morbihan Department

Geography

Morbihan department is a lowland in the South of the Armorican Massif, and it can be considered as a Hercynian peneplain. Its summit reaches 297 m in the northwestern border situated in the Black Mountains (Montagnes Noires). In the central part, the Moors of Lanvaux (Landes de Lanveau) rise at a very low height above the plain. The erosion due to the ocean tides effect has widened the mouths of rivers far upstream, constituting rias, in which oysterbeds have been settled. The flatness of the coastal plain explains the indentations of the coast on more than 830 km, with the Bay of Morbihan as the most obvious section. In this bay, islands, as the two biggest, l'Ile aux Moines and l'Ile d'Arzhe, and tidal flow in estuaries make earth and water merge each other in an endless undefined state. The water go and back makes difficult plants rooting, therefrom the formation of mud flats. From an ecological viewpoint, such environments are very interesting because of their high biodiversity. The mud flat area, also called slikke, is immersed in every tide. It is inhabited by diverse species of filtering organisms (Bivalve Molluscs, Annelid Worms) which provide food for limicoline birds, e.g. knots and sandpipers. Above, the schorre (high marsh) is a zone only reached by high tide. Plants can root and they can grow there, providing that they are tolerant to salt dissolved in the soil (halophilous plants). Among these species, one of the most common is Sea purslane. The upper schorre is often used as salt meadows in agriculture. The coast of Morbihan offers a large variety of these types of intertidal zones. Besides the two largest islands in Morbihan Bay, four islands are inhabited: Houat, Hoëdic, Groix, and, the largest in Brittany, Belle-Ile-en-Mer. On these islands, the agricultural activity is near zero, fishing is rather important, and tourism is now the main economic activity. For example, Belle-Ile-en-Mer is a destination in fashion with sharp rise in real-estate prices, grounds being sold for a price which has no more correlation with their agricultural value. It should be acknowledge that the place is charming and blessed with a fine climate. In fact, the general climate of Morbihan, while it can be defined as oceanic, presents rather sharp differences. Islands and a narrow coastal strip have a noticeably dryer climate, balmy winter temperatures (the average minimum temperature of February in Belle-Ile is over 5°C), and a longer sunshine duration in summer because of the prevalence of the southwestern winds (Azores anticyclone). Moreover, the heights of the Armorican Massif protect Morbihan from the North winds. The Black Mountains also reduce the prevalence of the western low pressure. The relief of the department, though low, is sufficient to introduce significant changes that one can observe on a climate map: as elevation increases, rainfall becomes heavier, as on hills in the Northwest and on Moors of Lanvaux.

 

History

Even if it is not the department which contains the most of megalithic sites, Morbihan is definitely the one in which the variety and magnificence of these neolithic monuments are the most striking: menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs (circles of menhirs), tumulus, and cairns (called galgals in Brittany). The most ancient megaliths in France are situated in Brittany (4500 to 5000 B.C.). Much later, the Celts, who were Indo-European tribes, came to populate Western Europe. In Brittany, their influence has lasted for a long time, notably on the language, from which has derived Breton. Indeed, the name of the department has a Celtic origin: Mor = sea, Bihan = little. So was named the little sea, i.e. the maritime surface confined in the Morbihan Bay, by contrast with the ocean: Mor Vras = the big sea. The tribe of Venetii occupied the current department of Morbihan. It was a powerful tribe shipping tin from Britain. These Gauls were overcome by Julius Caesar who had found support in other Gallic tribes allied to Rome. In Brittany, Local potentates had already found some independence while the Roman Empire was drowning in decadence, before the flood of barbarian invasions. The terrible Breton warriors have resisted to Frankish invaders until Charlemagne. With the dissolution of the Carolingian empire, Brittany got back its independence. IXth and Xth centuries were a time of Norman pirates' plunders. In 1341, the first Breton war of succession arose from an inheritance conflict after the Duke Jean III was dead without descent. England and France, which had began yet the One Hundred Years War, took opposite party. Vannes was besieged by English armies in 1342. Jean de Montfort, associated to English, triumphed in the end at the battle of Auray with the defeat of the French army and the death of Charles de Blois, his rival: Brittany, although vassal of King of France by feudal right, remained independent. This state was to end in the second war of succession, which happened a little more than a century later and ended in a less tragic way by the marriage between Anne de Bretagne and King of France Charles VIII, establishing thereby the surrender by the duchess to her king. The French Wars of Religion had little echo in Morbihan, which remained catholic as the rest of Brittany. The Revolution set up the current borders of the department by combining the Baily of Vannes with the southern half of the Baily of Ploërmel.

 

Hiking characteristics

The department of Morbihan offers to walkers a rather flat relief without particular difficulties except for exposed coasts in low tide, which obviously require some caution. The rocky coast to Groix, Belle-Ile and Quiberon offers beautiful landscapes, whereas the merging of earth and sea in Morbihan Bay and in other rias permit walks on open spaces swept by winds, where birds come pecking in the mud... Land full of mystery, covered with megalith fields, Christianity will have prolonged mysticism: Gothic crucifixes and calvaries go out of ground, as after a thunderstorm. Stones are daintily chiseled as women wove them. Many chapels and churches dates from a time of intense faith, between the XIVth and the XVIth century. The rias of Morbihan are havens for the sailors. Either that you are fishing, sea kayaking, or diving, maybe the gliding shadow of a gull will catch you in full action...

 

French Internet sites for outdoor activities

Horse riding in Wizard Merlin's wood : Centre d'Activité Equestre de Brocéliande
People from Morbihan with a passion for donkeys : Morbih'ânes
Forest adventure park, challenges for everybody and in all weathers : foretadrenaline
Canoeing or kayaking trips in the Blavet valley: Club Nautique de Baud
Outdoor leisure park: le P'tit Délire
Individual and group activities, kayak on the river, windsurfing board on the sea : Au Gré du Vent
Sea and river kayaking in the exceptional site of Ria d'Etel : Kayak Club Belz Erdeven
Sailing and sand yachting school to Quiberon, open all year long : char-a-voile-bretagne